2 New Orleans cops convicted in beating death of Treme man

Two New Orleans police officers were convicted Wednesday in federal court for their roles in the 2005 fatal beating of Raymond Robair and a cover-up that kept them out of trouble for several years.

After deliberating for more than 13 hours over three days, a jury determined that veteran officer Melvin Williams violated Robair's civil rights by beating and kicking him on a Treme street corner, an act the jury said directly resulted in his death.

The jury also found Williams and his rookie partner, officer Matthew Dean Moore, guilty of submitting a false police report about the incident. Moore, who agreed to be interviewed by FBI agents about the case, was also convicted of lying to the investigators.

Story by:

Laura Maggi and Brendan McCarthy,

staff writers

After the verdicts were read, both Moore and Williams, who had been free on bond, were taken directly into the custody of federal marshals. The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced July 14. Williams faces a possible sentence of life in prison, and Moore, up to 25 years.

Melvin Williams, left, and Dean Moore

Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas announced that both officers, who were previously on desk duty, had been suspended without pay. He added that the department's Public Integrity Bureau will begin procedures to "ensure a speedy and appropriate resolution" to the matter.

The convictions are the latest in a series of high-stakes federal prosecutions of New Orleans police officers. The Robair case is distinct from the other Hurricane Katrina-era police misconduct cases in an important respect: The killing occurred a month before floodwaters consumed the city and sent the troubled police force into turmoil. The so-called "Katrina defense" was thus not in play.

Robair family photoRaymond Robair was 48 when he died.

On a clear weekend morning, July 30, 2005, the officers, for reasons that are still unclear, converged on Robair in the 1500 block of Dumaine Street. Witnesses said Williams administered a fatal kick, amid a flurry of baton strikes. Within minutes, the officers dumped Robair at Charity Hospital, telling staffers that they found him on the ground, under a bridge, and believed he had overdosed on drugs. Within hours, the 48-year-old Treme man was dead. Pathologists later found that his ribs were fractured and his spleen lacerated.

For four days last week, the jury heard testimony from witnesses to the beating, scientific experts and hospital staffers. The officers testified they never hit, kicked, or punched Robair, and that they never attempted to cover anything up. At one point, Moore and Williams re-enacted their supposed street-corner tussle with Robair. They said he tried to run from them, and ended up slipping, with his shoe flying off, falling hard to the pavement.

At about 10 a.m. Wednesday, the seven men and five women tasked with determining the defendants' fates gathered in the jury box. Williams, his head low, rocked slowly in a swivel chair and glared at the judge. Moore, a stocky, former semiprofessional hockey player, had his chin to his chest, his eyes affixed to the table in front of him.

The verdicts were read aloud. Robair's relatives, already clutching tissues, began to cry. A gleeful yelp emanated from their courtroom bench. Across the room, the officers pursed their lips and continued to stare.

Moments later, U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon ordered both officers into custody. Williams, an 18-year NOPD veteran, and Moore, a novice cop who had dreamed of joining the federal ranks as a drug enforcement agent, were escorted by marshals through a side door. Williams' attorney, Frank DeSalvo, remained slumped in his chair, his head in his hands.

On the steps of the federal courthouse, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, buttressed by the prosecution team, declared the conviction an affirmation of the federal criminal-justice system.

"I think once again we have demonstrated that we are absolutely committed to making certain that no one is above the law, especially those, the officers, who are sworn to protect us and protect our constitutional rights," Letten said.

In recent years, federal investigators have opened nine civil rights cases against New Orleans police officers, many of which stemmed from the Katrina aftermath. Eight officers still face charges in two pending cases, six of them in the Danziger Bridge case, scheduled for trial in June. Officers are accused of shooting six unarmed civilians on the bridge a week after Katrina, killing two men, and then orchestrating a massive coverup.

In December, three officers were convicted for the fatal shooting of Henry Glover, an Algiers man, after the storm, as well as the subsequent burning of his body and a cover-up of what happened.

Letten said he hoped the verdict in this case would give people confidence to report wrongdoing by officers.

"It is cases like this ... that gives citizens the courage to speak up about the wrongs that they suffered," he said.

The FBI opened a probe into Robair's death in 2005, its agents working in tandem with NOPD detectives. The NOPD cleared Moore and Williams of any wrongdoing and the FBI, relying largely on the NOPD investigation, closed its inquiry in 2006.

The federal agency ultimately reopened its investigation in 2008, around the time agents began delving deeply into the Danziger Bridge shootings.

On Wednesday, Letten said the officers in the Robair case did their best to hide the facts, but he warned that such cover-ups eventually get discovered.

David Welker, special agent in charge of the FBI's New Orleans division, called the protection of civil rights "absolutely critical" and vowed to continue to pursue such cases.

The Robair case was investigated by local FBI agents and prosecuted by Washington-based attorneys from the Justice Department, as well as a prosecutor in Letten's office.

As the federal crimefighters addressed reporters, the Robair family walked arm-in-arm from the courthouse.

Marie Robair, Raymond's mother, had a smile on her face. "It was wonderful for me to see it," she said of the guilty verdict. "My son can rest in peace."

At one point, Letten walked over to the elderly woman, crouched low and kissed her on the cheek.

Several members of Robair's family expressed gratitude toward federal investigators and the U.S. Department of Justice, saying that they had delivered on a promise to see the case through.

But Patrice Leflore, a niece of Raymond Robair, said the resolution of the case did not make her feel more confident in the NOPD.

"I don't believe the NOPD is capable of policing themselves," she said. Leflore added that the work of federal investigators gave her hope that NOPD misconduct is being scrutinized.

The attorneys for the officers saw the verdict as a byproduct of a barrage of negative news about the city's police force.

"Under normal times, under normal circumstances, there is no way that a jury would have convicted Melvin Williams on the evidence that was before this jury," said his attorney, Frank DeSalvo. "I just can't help think that the public has been poisoned so much against the New Orleans Police Department in general. People think police officers lie. They think everything is a coverup."

Moore's attorney, Eric Hessler, said his client was "convicted because of the uniform he wears."

"It's a fact of life," he said. "These jurors just couldn't put aside the perception that has been rightly or wrongly created."

In his opening courtroom statements, Hessler told the jury that the NOPD wasn't on trial here. Now, he feels his words weren't heeded.

"The jury just couldn't separate these officers from the allegations in other cases," said Hessler, a former NOPD officer turned attorney.

"The fact that they were New Orleans police officers did not factor into this decision," Goodman said. "None of the publicity, none of the aspects of other trials, made any difference whatsoever. This decision was made on the facts, not on emotions."

Goodman said he did not want to believe that any public servant, especially a police officer, would commit the acts Williams and Moore did. But the facts are the facts, he said.

"There is a line that the police cannot cross. And ultimately, the facts prove that Mr. Williams crossed the line," Goodman said.

Both Hessler and DeSalvo represent indicted NOPD sergeants in the upcoming Danziger case, which has received much more publicity than the Robair case. DeSalvo said Wednesday it is possible a defense attorney in that case might file to move the case to a different jurisdiction, though he declined to say whether he would.